I lost my sense of smell four years ago. The doctors told me that it is natural and that it is not a sickness

case 0132

In the past year my sense of smell has greatly diminished. I began using a sinus flushing to see if this would help and now rubbing alcohol smells totally different (bad). Rubbing alcohol smells different but I notice no improvement in my overall ability to smell things.

case 0133

Around the age of 18 I had head trauma after an accident. Around the age of 22 I realized that I had lost my sense of smell. I can't smell anything, and thus I am unable to identify the food that I eat. Once I was in a room with a very disagreeable smell and I was the only one not covering his nose with a handkerchief. I told my doctors about my smell loss, but they did not take the issue seriously. With this loss I always face many untold hardships in my married and routine social life.

case 0134

I don't think I ever had a sense of smell. I have very few memories from childhood though, so I can't remember exactly when I noticed. I can sense certain smells if I stick my nose right up to the smell but distinguishing them from others is next to impossible. The fact that there are certain smells that I can get a sensation from is interesting to me. I do wonder sometimes if maybe I just had a weaker sense of smell when I was young but enjoyed the attention of not having this sense. I wonder if maybe I resigned myself to not having one...did not try and use it enough?

case 0135

A year ago I realized I couldn't smell and hadn't been able to smell for about two months. I was diagnosed with rhinosinusitis and sinusitis. I was put on steroids and got my smell back. I thought I was cured, but after the steroids wore off, in three weeks it was all back in full force. I later got steroids on two other occasions and again they brought relief, but only temporally.

case 0136

I used to work with cleaning chemicals including ammonia. Over time, I became very sensitive to cleaning products, petrolatum products, and products with fragrance. Now I avoid all fragrance in cleaning and laundry and personal hygiene products. Over time I have gradually lost most of my sense of smell. The last few years I have experienced a very annoying problem with my sense of smell. It is much distorted and once I get a certain smell in my nostrils, it won't leave for weeks. Coffee started smelling like motor oil. Cooking anything smelled like rancid fat. Everything smells like that particular smell and it's not a good smell. It is almost literally driving me crazy. I keep asking everyone if they can smell "that smell". No one can. It seems I'm locked in my own little world of foul smells. I am experiencing a smell right now that I can't identify. Every time the furnace comes on, I smell it. It permeates the house, but no one else can smell it. I smell it in the car. I smell it on other people. I don't know what it is, but it is making my life miserable. I wish I could change this perpetual odor in my nostrils to roses or something clean and pleasant. I'm at my wits end.

case 0137

I always had a very acute sense of smell and never had sinus problems. Then I was caught in a dust storm and developed sinus congestion and used nasal sprays. I lost my sense of smell. After six years only small parts of it have come back. It has affected by enjoyment of life, tasting food, smelling flowers and even being excited by the smell of my husband. I can't smell spoiled food or leaking gas. It makes me very sad and I don't think others realize how it affects me.

case 0138

When pregnant with twins, my nasal membranes went into overdrive producing vast amounts of mucus and swelling. The swelling and overproduction subsided once the pregnancy was complete; however, I have lost my sense of smell. Even more odd is that I now smell smoke periodically. When that occurs, it often lasts for a week or two and then dulls.

case 0139

I came down with a severe case of the flu. I used several medications and lost my sense of smell completely. After about three days I regained a sense of smell but nothing smelled the way it should. I went to an ear nose throat doctor for help with my anosmia. The doctor's attitude was "it may come back and it may not". I can smell things but most everything smells the same. I have to ask my family what I am smelling when I smell something I can't identify. If I am putting gas in my vehicle and smell something I know that it is the gas but it does not smell like gas. I cannot tell if food or milk has gone bad because I smell nothing as far as food products go. I can taste things but nothing tastes the way that it should. I can tell if a food is sour, salty, or sweet. I am a firefighter and have always been able to use smell to identify hazards (natural gas, wood fire, etc.) but now everything I am around smells the same. There is no difference in the smell of urine, feces, burning wood, wet dog, gasoline, or even skunk.

case 0140

I first noticed a change in my sense of smell when I was in my early teens. There were times when my sense of smell was very sharp and only I could smell certain things from a distance and other times when I could smell nothing. I never thought to get it checked out because, of course, everyone (myself included) thought that I just had a lingering cold. I could smell sometimes and was happy when I could. I tried many medicines for colds and allergies but nothing worked. I noticed that my smell finally went away completely about five years ago when I was cooking and left the room and returned to a grease fire in my kitchen. I couldn't smell the smoke and this is when I finally realized that there was something terribly wrong with me. About a year ago, I noticed that I could smell the soap while taking a hot shower but it only lasted about 30 minutes. I went to an ear nose throat doctor who told me that I had chronic sinusitis and gave me two weeks' worth or prednisolone. The very first day I took this steroid I could smell everything. This only lasted as long as I was taking it. As soon as I stopped taking it, I could no longer smell. The doctor would not give me any more steroids because he said it is very strong. I now take long hot showers, use a neti pot, and inhale the steam from a boiling pot of water. These remedies allow me to smell somewhat every few months. (They don't always work).